Releasing the Spirit
by Jovian Princess
Summary: Set four years after the battle with Chaos, Rei is a solitary twenty-year-old living alone at her shrine. This sexy piece of prose examines the events following the appearance of a handsome stranger.


Releasing the Spirit  
  
Releasing the Spirit is set four years after the last battle with Galaxia   
and the abolition of Chaos. It is written as if the first season of Sailormoon   
(Dark Kingdom) had never taken place. This writing also advocates the idea that   
the Senshi had romances with the Shitennou during the Silver Millennium.  
  
The ebony night was riven with violet cracks and torrents of blue rain.   
For days the Tokyo sky had been edged in an ominous grey, and tonight the full   
force of its fury was let loose upon the city. An ear-splitting snap emanated as   
another whip of lightning tore across the atmosphere.  
*Damn,* Rei thought, *another tree has gone down. This storm is   
unforgiving!* Already she had heard three loud snaps as the beautiful cedars   
surrounding her home fell. She hated to think how difficult restoration after   
the storm would be.  
Rei lived a solitary life. After her grandfather died and the weight of   
maintaining a shrine was laden upon her back, Rei directed her energy toward   
becoming a priestess. She left college at the age of twenty to care for her   
grandfather's Shinto shrine. There were other reasons for her departure, but Rei   
kept them a closely guarded secret. Occasionally Rei wondered what life would   
have been like if her relative had not expired, but the fates had wrought their   
judgment and nothing could be done to change that. Rei didn't ponder such things   
now: her mind was on the storm.  
"Please, please let this tempest lift," she whispered aloud.  
  
"Damn this rain! It's like the whole sky let loose!" Jadeite hardly had   
time to complete his thought when another ribbon of light struck down. He had   
searched the vacant streets for any form of shelter, but businesses were closed   
and no passersby were to be seen. When Jadeite had left the bus station only an   
hour or so earlier, the grey-edged sky seemed somewhat dormant, like a starving   
wolf that, for a moment, has abandoned his chase and lay asleep. Unfortunately   
the wolf rose from sleep too soon.  
Traveling for days on a crowded bus set Jadeite in an irritated mood. It   
was made worse by the storm and the fact that he had no plans of what to do.   
Jadeite was on what he called a soul-search. He had no family to speak of and   
for the past several months wandered aimlessly around the Far East. The young   
man encountered no problems finding a job or a woman for the night, but the   
adventurous side of his spirit cried out for something more. Why Tokyo seemed so   
appealing he couldn't accurately say. Someone or something was pulling him there.  
The soaked fabric of his long-sleeved shirt clung to his body, contouring   
his muscular chest. The flaxen curls that caught the noonday sun and made women   
take second glances now hung limp. On the whole, Jadeite took the appearance of   
a back-alley mutt. His black bag was made heavier by the drenching rain. The   
radiant Apollo was shrouded in the dreary black of the present tempest.  
Rounding a bend in the sidewalk, Jadeite tripped on haphazardly placed   
rocks and fell to his face as another rivet of thunder bellowed above. He knew   
with absolute certainty that the storm would claim him if he could not find   
shelter soon. Picking himself off the drowned sidewalk, Jadeite spied a building   
in the distance. It had the look of a shrine, and the weather-beaten man decided   
that if no other place would aid him, this surely would.  
  
The glow of candles was a small comfort against the thunderstorm. Rei   
had placed the myriad of sparkling wicks around the perimeter of the bare room   
she chose to stay in for the duration of the storm. On any normal day the room   
would be used for meditation, but under the present circumstances, Rei thought it   
an ideal place to camp out. *I'll bet Makoto is loving this storm,* she thought.   
The thought frustrated her. *They are all so happy. Why am I the last?* It had   
been four years since the abolition of Chaos. The Senshis' mission was complete   
and slowly their abilities to transform left them. It was finality, a closure   
that the warriors experienced. The pathway to a bright future was carved and the   
Sailor powers the girls discovered years ago slipped from them.  
A severe pounding at the front door interrupted Rei's silent meditations.   
She rose up startled, and when the beatings came again, made her way to their   
origin. Grabbing the brass fixture Rei pulled open the massive wooden door and   
stood staring into the dark hole of the doorframe. Her eyes were drawn to the   
weathered man leaning against the shrine's exterior and breathing heavily.  
"Oh my God," Rei said under her breath. She moved aside and beckoned the   
stranger inside. With faltering steps he stumbled inside and Rei slammed the   
door shut behind him. Rei was slightly bewildered at this stranger standing   
inside her door. Who in their right mind would go out into a thunderstorm?  
"Come this way," Rei directed him. He followed her into a large square   
room swimming in the light of candles. "Wait here," she said and turned down a   
dark hallway. Moments later Rei returned with several towels and a clean robe.   
"Put these on; I'll be back in a moment."  
Jadeite stood for several seconds taking in the sight before him. He   
then peeled off his soaked clothes, placed them in a pile on the floor, and put   
on the robe the woman had brought for him. *Looks like things are going pretty   
well so far,* Jadeite thought to himself, *a place to stay with a hot girl.*   
Jadeite let his mind rummage through its trail of dirty thoughts when Rei appeared   
again with blankets and a pillow.  
"You can sleep here tonight," she stated without emotion.  
"Thank you, Miss...?"  
"Rei."  
"Nice to meet you, Rei-san." Jadeite bowed. "I am Jadeite."  
"Nice to meet you, too," Rei said flatly. She didn't like the thought of   
a strange man staying at her house. "What brings you outside in the middle of a   
thunderstorm?"  
"I hadn't planned on a storm. I just arrived here from Beijing, so I   
don't know my way around very well. Thank God I found this place in time."  
*Yes, thank God,* Rei spat sarcastically. She laid the blankets on the   
floor and turned to leave. She could feel his eyes on her every moment, and it   
made her uneasy.  
Jadeite watched as the gorgeous woman exited the chamber. He lay on the   
floor and fell asleep to the sound of the rain beating the earth outside.  
  
The sun had not yet risen and Rei was in a foul mood. *I've had to   
forfeit my room to a complete stranger, the electricity is still out, and I have   
no clue how to move these damn trees!* The horizon was painted a light pink as   
the sun began its climb up the atmosphere. Clad in an old t-shirt and jeans with   
her raven locks tied back in a bun, Rei raked away disheveled leaves.  
When a big pile formed Rei knelt down and spat a flame from the palm of   
her hand. The dead leaves ignited. Rei was the only Senshi left with her powers.  
Usagi's power diminished first. She had Mamoru. Minako had been the   
second to loose contact with Sailorvenus. Makoto ran off with a man after high   
school and left the spirit of Sailorjupiter. Ami recently lost her Sailor powers   
as well. *Why am I still able to commune with the spirit of Sailormars?* The   
truth lay in her soul, but she could not dive through the depths to reach it.  
  
When Jadeite rose the sky was painted a soft blue with little reminders   
of the past storm edging the horizon. The candles surrounding him were reduced   
to smoldering wicks. He sat up stretched, then opened the door and left the room.   
The air was still and warm. He wondered where Rei was. *She's probably awake   
already,* he mused. The clothes inside his black bag had miraculously remained   
dry. He dressed casually and decided to begin his stay at the shrine with a tour.  
Every room in the place was similar. Sparse decor littered the rooms.   
One room in particular caught his attention. It was a smaller room located near   
the back of the building. In it was a low bed, a desk, and a dresser. A collage   
of papers covered the desk and the white sheets lay mussled. *This must be her   
room,* he thought with pleasure. Not having heard any other footsteps nearby,   
Jadeite slipped into the room. He leaned over the desk and glanced at the papers;   
nothing of particular interest resided there. The dresser pulled at his   
curiosity. He opened the top drawer. It was filled with shirts, and off to one   
side lay a small wooden box. Jadeite gingerly lifted the lid. Its contents were   
a few folded letters. Taking out the topmost one Jadeite unfolded it and scanned   
the page.  
My dear Rei,  
I am sorry...This life is too much right now...I think it would be best...  
I just need some time alone...I'm sorry.  
*So now it becomes interesting,* Jadeite thought while putting the letter   
away.  
Eventually Jadeite made his way to the back door. Behind the shrine lay   
a garden surrounded by majestic trees (or what remained of them). Jadeite spied   
Rei with a trash bag picking up debris. He stood marveling at her shape, her   
form, the contours of her legs. After letting his mind linger he walked over.  
"Good morning, Rei," he said.  
She turned. The sun hit her hair in such a way that purple diamonds   
ricocheted off of each black strand. The intensity of her violet eyes stunned   
Jadeite: he hadn't noticed them in the dim light of the previous evening. It was   
as if she could see through him, and that realization ashamed Jadeite. He looked   
away.  
"Good morning," she replied, turning back to her work.  
"Can I give you a hand?" he asked.  
She stopped and turned her body towards him as if to see him in a better   
view. She spent a moment unspeaking, as if judging him, then simply said, "Yeah.   
There's an empty bag over there."  
He promptly picked up the sack.  
"So, you're new in Tokyo?" she questioned.  
"Yeah, just came in from the mainland."  
"What brings you to the city?"  
"I'm not sure really. I just felt that I needed to come here."  
His answer intrigued her. *Soul-searching?* she wondered. Lately Rei   
had been giving her life the same sort of thought. Was this what she really   
wanted? Of course she knew the answer, but pride would keep her from ever   
admitting it. *It's curious this stranger feels the same,* she thought.  
"Looking for something, perhaps?" Rei ventured.  
"I guess so."  
"What are you searching for, Jadeite?" Her questions were so blunt, so   
honest, so true. Her nature was a challenge. It brought a sly smile to   
Jadeite's face.  
"I don't know; my soul, I guess."  
"Hmm." Rei didn't look up, but inside she was racing. It wasn't often   
that someone stopped by the Hikawa shrine for something other than business. It   
was a nice change to just have someone to talk to. Nevertheless, it still made   
Rei uneasy. *If he weren't so damn good-looking!* she cursed inwardly, and it   
was true.  
"What are you searching for?" This time it was Jadeite to ask.  
"Nothing: I have everything I need." It was a lie. If not, her powers   
would have been abolished.  
"Is it everything you want?"  
"That doesn't matter."  
"I think it matters very much. I think you should let go of him. You   
should find someone new."  
Rei spun her head around. "What? Who? What are you talking about?"  
"You know. The bastard shouldn't have left you."  
*How dare this son-of-a-bitch pry into my personal affairs!* Rei was   
steaming. She gave Jadeite a hard look, and, drawing back her hand, slapped him   
hard across the cheek. Throwing the half-filled sack to the ground Rei stormed   
inside.  
  
Beads of sweat ran down her face. Fiercely she spat out the chat, alive   
with angry passion. The sacred flames before her mirrored her emotion. Her   
hopeful thoughts of a friend were shattered. *That damn son-of-a-bitch!*  
The raven-haired woman concentrated hard on her thoughts. The flames,   
never lying, showed no danger in this stranger. In fact, they revealed the   
opposite: that his coming was somehow predestined. This news only made Rei pray   
deeper.  
"I apologize."  
Those two clear words piercing the silence startled Rei, and she gasped   
loudly. Angrily she turned. Jadeite stood in the doorway, a look of true   
sincerity on his face. "I apologize. It was wrong of me to pry."  
"Damn right it was," Rei muttered under her breath. "You had no right   
to look through my things." She turned back to the flames.  
Jadeite turned to go, but an overwhelming anger enveloped him. What was   
this girl trying to hide? Why the hell did he feel it was his responsibility to   
find out? None of the other women he stayed with made him feel this way. She   
was unlike any woman he had come across in his travels: this woman didn't want   
him for sex; and yet he didn't want her for that reason. "What is wrong, Rei?   
What happened?"  
Tears began to well up in her eyes. "I thought I let you know very well   
today that I didn't want to discuss it!"  
"I think you need to. Something happened that's holding you back, Rei!   
I've seen those eyes. I saw the sheltered soul in your eyes today. You cannot   
hide them. You cannot hide behind the past, Rei! You need to live again."  
"You don't know what you see. Besides, it's none of your concern!"  
"Yes, yes it is. There's something about you, Rei. You're different. I   
feel something in you. I feel you are my reason: what I have been searching for."  
Rei stood. "Don't tell me that line. All you want is another whore.   
I've seen your life in the flames, Jadeite, and they do not lie. How many times   
have you said that line? How many women have you used? In a few days you'll be   
off. What will you leave me with, Jadeite?"  
The harsh reality of those cold words fell like a huge stone upon Jadeite,   
pounding him into the ground. Every word she spoke rang with truth. But this   
time it really was different. This time his line spoke truly. How could he   
convince her of that with all that she had seen? He couldn't answer to such a   
cruel reality. Once again he turned to leave. In parting he said, "I know   
things too, Rei. I know what you desire. Why don't you just give in?"  
Rei fell back to the floor and harshly whispered her chant. The rising   
fire only repeated Jadeite's wisdom.  
  
Night had fallen. Rei rose from her position on the floor and left the   
fire. Hours in front of the inferno had only unveiled one truth. It told Rei to   
heed Jadeite's words. *I'm not giving in,* Rei told herself. She had been   
abused and neglected by any man she was attracted to. But she had to find her   
happiness to release the spell.  
With catlike steps she walked out the door and onto the porch in the   
back. There she witnessed something quite unexpected. The filthy bastard of a   
man she argued bitterly with earlier was clearing her land of the fallen trees.   
With swift axe strokes he cut away the dead branches. Sweat ran down his back;   
he had obviously been working a long time. This was Jadeite: the man Rei thought   
would surely be gone. Why was he persisting? What did he want with her?  
Unwilling to think further of the matter, Rei retired to her chamber.   
There, lying on the soft folds of her sheets, was a folded note. The sight of it   
angered her, but still she picked it up and read its contents: "What I said was   
true. You can decide whether or not you believe it." She didn't want to believe   
it.  
  
For a moment Jadeite paused to wipe the sweat from his brow, then he put   
down the axe and turned towards the shrine. Most of the trees had been cleared,   
and Jadeite was proud of his efforts. Maybe this would give Rei a different view   
of him. Hopefully.  
Coming in through the door and passing down the large hallway, he found   
Rei in a bare room with a cup of tea. She looked up as he passed and her eyes   
froze his feet.  
"I thought I'd offer my services. I cleared a few of the trees from the   
back," Jadeite said.  
"Thank you," Rei said with stunning gentleness. "If you want to wash up,   
go down the hall and four doors to the left."  
"Thanks."  
Rei was silent for a moment as if thinking very deeply. Then she spoke,   
"I suppose I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have lashed out like that."  
"You sure put your message across," he said, touching his bruised cheek.  
"You hit a difficult subject," she replied and looked away.  
"You loved him deeply?"  
"My friends told me it was unwise to fall in love with something I   
couldn't have..." Rei's voice quivered: she had been given away.  
"Rei, I don't know what it is about you, but I don't care what happened.   
There's something about you, Rei. I feel different when I'm around you."  
"Don't tell me that. Don't tell me another lie."  
"All I can say is that it isn't a lie. I think you know it isn't. Let   
go, Rei." With those words as parting, Jadeite turned and headed down the hall.  
  
Rei lay awake staring at her blank ceiling. In the passing of twenty-four   
hours she had met a man who read her soul clearer than anyone she had met in the   
passing of twenty years. *All I can say is that it isn't a lie. I think you   
know it isn't.* His words repeated themselves inside her thoughts. *How do I   
feel a connection to this man?* She felt as if, in some distant time, she had   
known him. *You need to live again.* How badly she wanted to. Fear wove threads   
around her heart and kept her wings from flying. *Why don't you just give in?*   
Why didn't she. *Why am I keeping myself from something I want so badly,* Rei   
admitted silently. The symbol of Mars glowed upon her forehead. She longed to   
release the spirit.  
Rei could hear the water running down the drain a few doors down.   
Suddenly it stopped and there was silence. Brushing away a stray tear, Rei rose   
from her bed.  
  
Jadeite stood in the large room toweling off his damp hair. He was   
wearing only a pair of sweatpants. He stayed in the room from the previous   
night. It was still thick with the scent of her. His mind wandered, but not   
in its familiar path of lust. He saw a vision of her violet hair engraved on   
the back of his eyelids. It was so beautiful he couldn't bear to open them.  
Light footsteps signaled that she was coming. He reached for a shirt but   
not before the door swung open and Rei stepped inside. She clutched together a   
scarlet robe and her cheeks flushed with pink.  
"Rei..." he ventured, but the glow in her eyes silenced him. With   
delicate hands she shut the door and turned to face him fully. Then, with a last   
nervous sigh, she let the red silk fall to the floor.  
  
Night was fading from purple to blue. Rei saw tired stars burning   
through the window. She could feel the steady rise and fall of Jadeite's chest   
beside her. On the floor she lay entwined with her lover. All anger towards him   
Rei released: she had felt his soul. She had wallowed through his emotions, and   
she now knew. Rei loved him.  
She kissed his fingertips and the sign on her forehead burned. Then, as   
if a burden had been lifted from her, it faded away. The spirit of Sailormars   
had left her. A tear of relief fell down her face.  
Rei brushed a wisp of hair away from Jadeite's sleeping face. This was   
the man she loved. He had come to her at last. Rei relaxed in his embrace   
feeling comfort that he was there and knowing that he would still be there in   
the morning. 


End file.
